“But…something happened, and she quit talking to me. Whatever boy so much as looked at me in school was the next boy on her seduction list.” Linda laughed, and it was the first time that evening that Nate detected any bitterness in her. “She’s beautiful and outrageous, and could have any guy she wanted. And she wanted any guy who showed the slightest interest in me.” She smiled sweetly up at him. “Thanks. I just wanted her to think that I’m happy despite what she did.”
Nate must have managed to put up enough of a normal front that Linda didn’t notice anything amiss as they finished their fries and then packed their stuff up and started walking again. But his mind was in turmoil. He realized now that the revving motor sounds that he’d been hearing and the tractor pull was the event that Kaitlyn had been getting ready for.
Kaitlyn had seen him getting cozy with another woman after he’d just touched her earlier—he could still feel her skin on his fingers. He wanted to bang his head against a wall. But his gut had been telling him that Kaitlyn was all wrong for him, and now Linda was the second person that maligned her character from personal experience. And unlike Clint, Linda seemed credible.
Tank couldn’t get back soon enough. Amazingly, despite everything he’d heard, Nate’s chest still hummed with electric pulses when he thought about Kaitlyn. He wondered if there was a reason she’d done what they’d said. Or maybe she regretted it? Or there was some other explanation? Man, he so wanted to think that there was. But his best bet was to get as far away from her as soon as he could.
“Want to check out the pull for a while?” Nate wanted to bite his tongue.
Linda, holding Bobby’s hand and walking beside Nate as he pushed the stroller, glanced up at him. “Sure.”
They headed toward the smoke and rumbling high-horsepower motors that had been calling him all night. He tried not to quicken his steps.
They settled in the grandstand on one of the lower seats, parking the stroller with a sleeping Gary in it in front of them.
A shiny blue tractor with black smoke pouring out the exhaust pulsed at the starting line. The turbo engaged, and the driver eased the clutch out. Vibrations shook the stands beneath them as the front end of the tractor lifted and it tore down the track, dirt flying back toward the sled dragging behind.
Linda had her hands over her ears.
Bobby jumped up and down, his screaming of “Go! Go!” drowned out by the roaring of the motor.
The tractor bounced to a stop near the full pull line, and the noise ceased abruptly as the driver cut the throttle.
The announcer started to speak, telling the crowd how far the sled had gone.
Linda placed her hand on his arm. He leaned down so she could speak in his ringing ear. “That was loud.”
Nate felt strangely exhilarated. Every nerve in his body vibrated like a perfectly strummed guitar chord. Better than the adrenaline before a fight, better than the anticipation of victory in the ring, better even than the thrill of vanquishing an opponent, the surge of euphoria that swept through him, beckoned him to go down, to work with his hands that thing which was good. To figure out and create for himself that power and intensity, harness it and show it off to the world.
Linda tapped his arm. “Are you OK?”
“I think I just got bitten by some kind of bug.” The pulling bug. It bit hard.
“I’m kind of tired. Maybe we should head home.”
Bobby hopped up. “No! Can’t we please stay? I want to see the trucks pull. Kaitlyn’s pulling!”
“Hey, Bob. Relax. When you’re out with a girl, you take her home when she asks.”
“But I want to stay!” Bobby stuck his lip out.
“We’ll talk to your sister tomorrow and make plans to go to the next one.”
Bobby crossed his hands over his chest, but he didn’t say anything more as they gathered their things and began pushing the stroller.
Another tractor lined up in front of the sled.
Linda’s brows drew together. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to do what you did with the boys. She’s their sister, and I was rude.”
“It’s OK. Sounds like you had a pretty rough time with her.” He looked at Gary in the stroller. “We’d better stop at the restrooms before we leave. Gary could use a change, and that way Bobby won’t have us stopped five miles from here so he can go in the bushes.”
Linda laughed. “Sounds good.”
They headed toward the restrooms. “Do you mind taking Bobby in with you, and I’ll push the stroller around the side and change Gary in it?”
“That’s fine.” Linda, holding hands with Bobby, smiled down at him.
Linda disappeared into the restroom with Bobby. There was a bit of a line, so Nate wasn’t in a hurry. Gary smiled up at him as Nate parked him between the rest room and an area spread with picnic tables. He dug through the flowered diaper bag for wipes and a clean diaper. People milled around, walking on the dirt path. Bits of their conversation floated by as Nate talked softly to Gary. He had just pulled a diaper out of the bag when the hair on his neck pricked up. Drawn by instinct, he turned toward the walkway.
Kaitlyn, her eyes flashing, met his gaze for an instant before she turned and grabbed an older man who stood beside her.
“Ron!” She wrapped her arms around him, stood on tiptoe and smashed her lips to his. The man’s arms came around her, pulling her flush to his body.
Nate’s chest heaved. Jealousy, green and burning, ate into his chest and his fingers twitched. He stared at the couple with narrowed eyes; the diaper fell from his hand.
8
Nate’s ribs ached, and his throat felt tight. Deliberately he reached down for Gary, cradling him in his left arm, and walked over to the couple who had finally broken apart. The man gasped for air.
Kaitlyn saw Nate; her eyes widened and she spun around.
“Kaitlyn. I didn’t realize that your truck pull was at the county fair.” Nate was relieved to hear his voice sounded level. Cool.
The man had turned toward Nate at the sound of Kaitlyn’s name. Nate held his right hand out. “Name’s Nate. Been sharing a garage with Kaitlyn.” He gave the guy a sly grin. “Gotta say, you don’t look anything like the fellow she was with earlier this week.”
Although the man seemed to dismiss Nate—his disguise was working—he flinched as Nate casually squeezed his hand. The guy pulled his hand back and looked uneasily at Kaitlyn.
She shrugged. “Ignore him. I have no idea what he’s talking about.”
“Sure you do, Katie. Big blond dude, asked you out tomorrow night.” Nate tried to look innocent.
The man’s body twitched and his gaze skidded around. “He talking about Dusty?”
Nate had thought that Dusty would have a reputation as a fighter.
“Thought you said you two broke up?”
“We did. Nate’s just being a jerk.” She speared him with her sharp blue eyes. “Did Linda bore you to death already?”
“Linda is with your brother in the restroom. I thought it’d be a good idea for you to cease your amorous display and exchange the money elsewhere.”
A shadow crossed her face when he mentioned her brother. Then Kaitlyn’s eyes flashed fire. “I can’t believe that you would insinuate that I would have to pay someone to…”
The guy wiped his hands on the front of his jeans and looked around anxiously. “Just give me my twenty bucks so I can get out of here. I don’t want to be anywhere around when Dusty hears about this.”
Caught red-handed, Kaitlyn slapped twenty bucks into his outstretched hand. She muttered, “Good riddance,” under her breath and whirled away.
Nate placed his hand on her arm. Electric shock waves zipped through his fingers. A world of difference from when he had touched Linda.
Kaitlyn spun back around. “Leave me alone! Go snuggle with your sweet, pie-faced lap dog.”
He snorted. “You’re no lap dog.”
She gritted her teeth. “A pit bull. You’d
be wise to remember.”
“I thought she was trying to make an old boyfriend jealous. I didn’t know it was you. It was dumb, and I’m sorry.” The tension in her arm disappeared at his statement and apology.
But her eyes still burned. “No apology needed. You can do whatever you want. What makes you think I give a hoot who you wrap your tentacles around?”
Her words were tough, but Nate caught the uncertainty that tinged her tone. He gentled his voice even more. “I don’t expect you to care. I just wanted you to know that I wouldn’t have gone along with Linda’s plan to show someone up if I’d have known that someone was you.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?” she snapped.
Nate ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “Don’t believe it. I’m not declaring my undying love for you nor saying you’re my one and only. I’m just saying, you’ve been good to me this week. I’ve had fun with you, and I respect you too much to deliberately hurt you. That’s all. I didn’t know it was about you, or I wouldn’t have done it. And Linda will know it.”
“Linda hates me. She’ll ditch you, Romeo, if you defend me.”
“Linda is just a friend, woman. Holy cow, I’m holding your little brother. She’s got Bobby in the restroom. That’s not exactly romantic.”
Kaitlyn ran her eyes derisively up and down his outfit.
Nate wished he were wearing something else. He wanted her to look at him and like what she saw. He stuffed the desire.
She sniffed. “I’m pretty sure you don’t know squat about romance.”
Score. “You’re right.” He dropped his gaze. “There’s a lot of stuff I don’t know squat about.” With a rigid jaw, he turned to walk back to the stroller.
“Nate.” Kaitlyn grabbed his arm.
It felt as if she was burning a hole through his shirt, and he wanted to shake it off. He stopped, but didn’t turn.
She gripped harder. “I’m sorry.”
Nate looked beyond the bright lights of the fair into the dark night sky and breathed through his nose. She’d just lacerated his chest with an imaginary butcher knife. Now she wanted to put a bandage on it. He looked down then back at her. “You don’t need to apologize to me. You were only hurting yourself.” He shook her arm off and walked to the stroller. He almost had Gary’s diaper changed before Linda and Bobby got back.
They walked to the car in silence.
Even Bobby was quiet. He fell asleep less than five minutes into the ride home.
Nate checked the rearview mirror to make sure he was completely out before he spoke. “I told you I was in town to help Tank.”
“Yes. While he and Eve are on vacation. Nice people.”
“Yeah. Well, I don’t know if you saw the truck that hit his garage.” It was still there. The insurance company wanted their estimator to see the damages before anything got moved.
“Yes.” Linda looked over at him.
“Kaitlyn was driving.”
“Oh.”
“Mr. Driver insisted I use his garage to work on Tank’s trucks until Tank’s is fixed.”
“OK.”
“I guess I’m admitting that I’ve been working a lot with Kaitlyn. I didn’t want you to find out from someone else and think that I was hiding it. Earlier, when you were talking about her, it didn’t seem like the time to tell you.”
“No. I admit I have some bitterness over what she did.” Linda looked out the window.
Nate didn’t say anything. So many questions tripped over in his head, but he didn’t want to grill Linda about Kaitlyn. He really needed to man up and ask Kaitlyn about Kaitlyn.
“We were best friends all through elementary school,” Linda spoke softly. “She had a heart of gold. Sweetest friend a girl could have. We did everything together. She knew me better than anyone. Knew my secret crushes. But, well, it’s common knowledge around town, she had an accident.” Linda hesitated, her fingers moved absently over her skirt. “Her brother was killed. Everyone said Kaitlyn was driving drunk, but her dad threw his weight around, and she was never charged. With anything. After that, she changed. Her mom died when she was young. Her dad married shortly after the accident, and Kaitlyn went from being sweet and nice to the quintessential mean girl and…excuse my language, a slut. The first guy she slept with after the accident was the guy I’d had a crush on for years.”
“Guys just fell at her feet?” Nate felt like a fool.
“Well, they were teenage guys. And she was offering what they wanted.”
“Hmm.” His heart drummed slowly in his chest.
“It was odd, really, because up until that point, neither of us had dated at all. I wasn’t allowed, and she didn’t because I couldn’t.” Linda looked sheepishly over at him. “This is not my first date, but it’s close.”
“Wow. And I dragged two kids along to ruin it for you.”
“It was fun.”
“Thanks.” What would she say if she knew this was his first date ever? In his zeal to not be like his dad, he’d gone overboard—no drinking, no swearing, no fighting except in the ring, and no girls. A lifestyle that guaranteed that he would not follow in his father’s footsteps.
“You know, I said all that about Kaitlyn, but she probably saved me from making a huge mistake.”
“By saving you from a jerk?”
“That’s right.”
“Think she did it on purpose?”
“The old Kaitlyn, I’d say yes, easily. But the person she became after the crash? I don’t know.”
~*~
Kaitlyn walked into the house and glanced at the clock: 1:17 AM. Nate’s car had still been in the driveway. She hadn’t really thought he’d leave the boys alone even if he did hate her.
Dimly lit by the light over the stove, the kitchen smelled faintly of tuna. Nothing moved; the house felt deserted. She closed the door quietly. At this hour, she assumed the boys were in bed. Where was Nate?
Slipping into the living room she saw the table lamp on low. She was almost through the room before she realized he was stretched out on the couch. Asleep.
One arm tucked behind his head, one on his stomach. Those arms were harder than they looked. The solidness of those muscles had surprised her earlier. And intrigued her.
Nate was more than he seemed.
His eyes were closed, his nose the most prominent feature on his face. Long feet in clean white socks crossed at the ankles and propped on the edge of the couch.
Kaitlyn’s feet didn’t stop until she stood beside him, looking down. The desire to kneel, to brush her hand across his face, to wake him with a kiss…She touched the dark stubble on his jaw. Weak, gentle, refined men had never attracted her. Yet, here she was. Wondering what he’d do if she… She couldn’t do anything. Not with Nate. Not until she’d told him what she’d done. Or at least told him what she knew of what she’d done. At that point, he’d want nothing to do with her. Really, she wanted nothing to do with herself, because of her actions that night.
Her fingertips traced his jaw, and she watched with a strange fascination, realizing she’d been wanting to do this all week. They moved lightly up his cheek.
His eyes were open.
She froze. How long?
Cloudy, they looked at her as if she was a dream. He stared without speaking.
Her breath accelerated, and she couldn’t look away. How long had it been since someone had looked at her and actually saw her? And liked her anyway? Her eyes pricked with tears.
“Did you win?”
“No.” And she didn’t care. Not right now.
“Second?”
“No. I burnt up my clutch.”
The cloudy look left his eyes, replaced by a furrowed brow. “How’d you get home?” He moved languidly to look at the clock on the wall.
“It’s twenty after one. I drove home.” At his puzzled looked she explained, “I had a little help getting it started. Then didn’t stop.”
The sleepy look fled from his face. His brows
drew down and his fingers flexed. “Didn’t stop? Doesn’t sound like the smartest strategy.”
“I’m not an infant. I’m a woman and capable of taking care of myself.” She drew back glared down at him. Kaitlyn tamped down her irritation. It wasn’t Nate; it was the whole world. Or maybe just her dad. She would never replace Kyle.
Looking away, Nate sighed.
The refrigerator kicked on in the kitchen. The low hum sounded soothing and familiar.
“The boys are fine. Both in bed.”
“Thanks.” She ducked her head down. “If you want to stay here, that’s fine. I’m sorry it’s so late.”
He swung his legs over the side of the couch, and she stepped back as he stood. “Nah. People would be talking about us before we even woke up.” He lifted a brow with a small grin as if he knew she didn’t really care. “I’ve got a few things to do in the morning, anyway.”
“I really do appreciate you taking the boys with you tonight.”
“Sure. No problem. Sorry things didn’t work out for you.” He ran a hand over his face. “Do you have a clutch to put in it?”
Kaitlyn looked away. “No. I’d really like to put a heavy-duty ceramic one in, but they’re expensive and I was hoping to spend that money on injectors.” She had enough saved up for one, but she couldn’t swing both.
“Well, if you get the injectors, you’ll need the clutch.”
“True.”
“So you might as well get the clutch first.”
“I can’t beat Dusty without the injectors.” She shrugged. “But you’re right. Clutch first.”
“That just seems reasonable. Any other clutch won’t withstand the power that those injectors will put to it.”
“You’re right.” She realized she’d been saying that a lot. Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know?”
He shrugged. “Been doing a little research. Know your enemy and all that.” His grin said he was teasing.
“Am I really your enemy?” Kaitlyn looked up at him. He made her feel small and feminine. She wasn’t used to it, but the feeling wasn’t completely unpleasant.
“I don’t want you to be.”
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